Trustees
The Trustees come from a variety of scientific, forestry, nursery, legal and farming backgrounds. All are top people in their fields.
Peter Berg
ONZM
TTT Chairman
Past President of the NZ Forest Owners Association for 12 years and former member of the SCION (NZ Forest Research Institute) and Auckland Conservation Boards, Peter is presently the Chair of the NZ Branch of the Commonwealth Forestry Association and a member of the executive committee of NZ Farm Forestry Assn. Peter is involved in many aspects of NZ forestry and has jointly authored two books on New Zealand’s forest history.
Warwick Silvester
ONZM, PhD
TTT Treasurer
Emeritus Professor of Biological Sciences at University of Waikato. He has interests in plant nutrition and productivity and has published papers on nitrogen fixation, nitrogen cycling and tree physiology. He is currently Chair of Pukemokemoke Forest Trust and is the inaugural KuDos Lifetime Achievement Awardee in recognition of outstanding achievements in environmental research.
Jacqui Aimers
PhD in Forestry, Texas A&M University; BSc in Botany & Zoology, BSc (Hons) in Botany, University of Otago
Jacqui is a research analyst, forestry scientist and writer with over 30 years’ experience. She worked in Westland as a botanist during her university summers. After graduating, she did ecological work in Westland, and worked at the Forest Research Institute (FRI, now Scion). Jacqui then completed a PhD at Texas A&M University, with an emphasis in tree improvement – while working part-time for the Texas Forest Service. After returning to New Zealand, Jacqui worked for 10 years at FRI, in forest biotechnology. She subsequently set up Aimers Consulting in 2004, freelancing with a focus on forestry, sustainable land management and technical communications.
David Bergin
PhD
David is director of Environmental Restoration Ltd (ERL) where he is a scientist specialising in restoration ecology and promoting the planting and management of indigenous timber species. Until recently he was a senior scientist with the Crown Research Institute Scion with 35 years of applied research experience. David has a long history of research with totara including involvement with the Northland Totara Working Group promoting management of naturally regenerating totara on farmland. He is a founding trustee of both the Tane’s Tree Trust and of the Dune Restoration Trust of NZ, and trustee of The Project Crimson Trust.
Michael Bergin
Dip. Forestry (For. Mgmt.), Member of the New Zealand Institute of Forestry
Mike is a director of Environmental Restoration (ERL) with 15 years of experience in environmental research and technical advisory roles working on a wide range of projects with councils, landowners, trusts and government departments. Mike specialises in setting up planting and weed control trials, monitoring of performance, managing databases and technical reporting across a range of indigenous plant ecosystems including forests, wetlands, geothermal landscapes and coastal dunes across New Zealand.
Ian Brennan
Ian came to drystock farming in 2006 after 22 years as a computer systems analyst. In 2007 he began experimenting with native plantings and aims to have all seven gullies on the farm returned to native forest cover by the time he retires. Recent large scale plantings have been mostly totara at 4m spacings with a mixed nurse crop at 2m. Ian offers farm tours to discuss appropriate land use and integration of forestry on marginal land.
Ian Brown
Ian Brown is a retired orthopaedic surgeon. For over 40 years he has managed and conducted trials on a range of exotic species in Northland and Mt Pirongia in the Waikato, with a special interest in Australian Blackwood and Redwood. Over the last 20 years he has established a native forest on his property on Waiheke Island.
Jon Dronfield
Jon is a forester and production manager for New Zealand Sustainable Forest Products on the West Coast and is responsible for the management of Foreverbeech products from the forest to a market ready state. Jon has 20-years’ experience in managing forests under sustainable forest management legislation and remains committed to the utilization of timber resources through the application of ecologically sensitive continuous-cover forestry.
David Horgan
David Horgan joined Tāne’s Tree Trust in 2022.
Gerard Horgan
BSc. (hon) in Chemistry and MCom. (hon) in Economics, University of Canterbury
Gerard is an economist with over 40 years’ experience in research, policy, and forestry/natural resource economics. He was a research economist with NZFS/FRI/Forest Research for 23 years, and then for three years worked for APR Consultants on business and community development. For the last twelve years, until officially retiring from MPI in May 2015, he was a Senior Policy Analyst responsible for collating MPI’s log price series, and worked on various other resource related issues including bioenergy, water and climate change.
Rob McGowan
JP, M.Soc.Sc Waikato
Rob McGowan currently works for the Department of Conservation (DOC) and is the Amo Aratu for Nga Whenua Rahui (NWR). He was the founding Chair of the Kaimai-Mamaku Catchments Forum and is currently the Patron of the Forum.
Rob is an authority on rongoā Māori (traditional Māori medicine) and is well respected nationally for his work with and for the restoration of rongoā Māori practice in New Zealand. He was an expert witness to the Wai 262 Claim, and since the publication of the Tribunal’s Report, involved in its implementation. He continues to work as an advisor to numerous Government agencies, Māori tribal authorities and for a number of rongoā Māori related research and education initiatives.
In his current work, he is heavily involved in helping to build a bridge between Western Science and Matauranga Māori (traditional Māori knowledge) in conservation management. Rob has been a long time member of the Bay of Plenty Conservation Board and past Chairman.
Wayne O’Keefe
Having moved to Aotearoa, NZ in 2001, Wayne quickly developed a passion for our unique biodiversity. Since starting his contracting business in 2002, he has been fortunate enough to work in the community conservation space supporting and guiding conservation groups and landowners to achieve their conservation goals. This has helped him to develop a broad understanding of coastal and forest ecology and the challenges we face in caring for them. He is a self-confessed native plant geek and has a particular interest in native forest establishment. Wayne has held roles with the QEII National Trust, Trees that Count and currently works for Bay Conservation Alliance. He is also Chair of the Whakatāne Kiwi Trust, a project that manages 2000ha of predator control around Whakātane, in the Eastern Bay.
Michael Orchard
B Sc. (Botany and Zoology), B (Forestry) Sc., Graduate Diploma of Learning and Teaching. University of Canterbury.
Michael has long been passionate about NZ’s native forests, biodiversity, wildlife and trees of every kind. He has been a member of several environmental groups and his early forestry career has included placements in Eyrewell, Kaingaroa, Gisborne District and Rotorua Forests, including management plan preparation for the Whirinaki Forest (in the Ureweras).
He then moved to the West Coast filling roles as a Senior Indigenous Forester for the NZ Forest Service, then a Senior Conservation Officer for the Department of Conservation (including mining site restoration and nursey management). A particularly rewarding role was a period as the Significant Natural Area, Landowner Liaison Manager, for the Grey District Council.
He also spent 25 years managing his own business ‘The Tree Centre’, as an Environmental, Conservation and Forestry Advisor (its motto – ‘Harmony With Nature’). As well as a small tree crops nursery, he enjoyed working in his forestry block, including a range of production exotics and tall indigenous forest. The latter includes a recently dedicated QEII Covenant – the “Orchard Memorial Kahikatea Forest and Wetland.”
To keep his mind active he has served on the Councils of the NZ Institute of Forestry and the Farm Forestry Association (and is local West Coast chairman of both). Currently he is on the Farm Forestry Executive Committee, its Indigenous Forests Section, plus the FFA/FOA Environmental Committee as well, and is very much looking forward to being immersed in “natives” again in TTT.
Paul Quinlan
BLA Hons
Paul is a registered Landscape Architect, involved with rural landscape design, planning and management. He has developed a professional interest in sustainable indigenous forestry and has prepared sustainable harvest permits and plans under the Forests Act. He is particularly involved with activities and projects of The Northland Totara Working Group.